Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Passover 2013: Russian Gefilte Fish, Gluten-Free Matzo



The downside of writing about food is that you have to start thinking months in advance. In order to make publication deadlines, you're pitching springtime stories in the midst of blizzards, talking about Thanksgiving food while you're still on summer break. Which is all to say I've been thinking about Passover foods for some months now. But I am not remotely sick of it. In fact, I'm all the more excited for the celebration.

This year I looked into restaurant Seders around the country, for those not interested in hosting their own (and for those who are, there are some good ideas on those menus). I taste-tested gluten-free matzo, and found a traditional way of making gefilte fish (along with a beautiful story of growing up in the Soviet Union).

For my own meal, I'm planning on making this delicate and lightly smoky gefilte fish, and the vegetarian dishes from this Sephardic-inspired Passover dinner. There will be appetizers, Manischewitz spritzers, and a little bit of metaphorical rebirth. Because even though it's something I've been thinking about for months, I could always use a bit more.

*photo from my gefilte fish post in Bon Appetit, taken by Kirk Jones

4 comments:

  1. There's an omission in the Bon Appetit recipe - it says "Gently cover the stuffed fish with the remaining onions and carrots, laying the slices of beet on top." but there is no amount for the beets. I'm preparing this tomorrow - help??

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    1. Sorry about that — thanks for catching! There are four slices of beet — two underneath, two on top. I'll see about adding that information.

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  2. Only problem with this recipe is that it calls for bread- not able to use that during Passover.

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    1. Yes — if you read the article, you'll find the historical reasons for this family recipe. For a kosher for Passover version, you can substitute a slightly lesser amount of matzoh meal.

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